The Amazing Spider-Man: 1962–1964

This is the most beautiful and lovingly compiled collection of the first twenty issues of The Amazing Spider-Man as well as his first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15. Excellent essays and historical information. Although pricey, it's a massive book (not kidding, it's MASSIVE) well-worth the investment if you are a Spider-Man fan and a Stan Lee / Steve Ditko fan.

Above all, one of my favorite features of this compilation is that the pages from the actual comic books are scanned in all their high-resolution glory including the advertisements. So, unlike Marvel Masterworks compilations of these issues which were recolored and without the ads, you get to read the entire comic books in this compilation as they originally were published with the ads and the color dots and the printing errors and all. They're glorious! The covers are on glossy paper and the interior pages are on a heavy-duty newsprint. I can't say enough about this book. Magnificent job, Taschen!